Animal containment systems are utilized in a variety of applications, such as for animal transportation, breeding and maintenance. Animals contained in the systems often are laboratory animals such as rodents, and such animals often are contained in a vivarium. Containment systems may include animal cages in which the animals are housed and a rack unit onto which cages are mounted. Animals contained in such systems emit several gaseous and particulate contaminates that are health risks to housed animals and human personnel maintaining the systems. Generally, permanent or multiple-use cages are designed for multiple uses, which requires they are washed and sterilized about every week for two years or more in an animal containment facility, for example, especially in a facility practicing Good Laboratory Procedures (GLPs). Multiple-use cages generally are heavy and have relatively thick walls and components often are constructed from resilient materials that can withstand multiple washes and sterilizations. Such cages may be disposed in a rack that holds multiple cages in order to house the animals more efficiently, however, it may be inconvenient to remove the cages from such rack in order to perform cleaning and other maintenance work.
Due to these aspects of typical multiple-use animal containment systems, a significant portion of animal containment resources are required for washing and sterilizing multiple-use components. Multiple-use cage designs also can present disadvantages with respect to contamination, such as requiring contaminated air filter handling or exposure of cage components to the environment when a cage impacts a surface (e.g., a cage is dropped by a user or falls from an elevation), for example, which bear especially on handling of animals in higher biosafety level animal facilities.
As such, what has been needed are animal containment cages and systems that eliminate the need for regular washing of cages, provide a safe and healthy environment for contained animals and optionally provide an efficient means for housing a large number of animals in a limited space. What has also been needed are such animal containment cages and systems that allow for easy access to the contained animals by laboratory personnel or anyone else that may need to access contained animals.